Dr. Nicole Loew is the co-host of the Woman Centered Health Podcast and recently completed a Quality Improvement fellowship at the Iowa City VA Medical Center. She has her PhD in nursing from the University of Iowa and her research interests include understanding how women’s contexts impact their perspectives of sexual health and their sexual behavior. Nicole has also studied risk communication, health communication, and health policy. Dr. Loew firmly believes that who you are and what your zip code is should not negatively impact your health and wellness. In her free time Dr. Loew has made it a personal goal to see every national park with her family.

Dr. Stephanie Edmonds is a Nurse Scientist at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and an Associate Adjunct Faculty at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. She is also the co-host of the Woman Centered Health Podcast. Dr. Edmonds has completed a Quality Improvement fellowship at the Iowa City VA Medical Center, obtained a Masters in Public Health at Tulane University, and a PhD in Nursing at the University of Iowa. Her current research includes exploring family building among U.S Veterans, the impact of military exposures on fertility, reproductive life planning practice among clinicians, and weight bias among women’s health clinicians. Dr. Edmonds believes that all people regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, weight, income, race, ethnicity, religion deserve to be treated kindly by health care professionals and that their values and preferences should be at the center of all health care decision making.

OUR STORY

Because communication impacts health outcomes, we created Woman Centered Health to improve sexual and reproductive health communication between providers and clients. At WCH we firmly believe that communication is the cornerstone to a successful care provider and client relationship. We define a successful relationship as one that establishes trust or mutual respect, and a client who feels empowered. We want to create a new approach to overcoming communication barriers between care providers and their clients by providing evidence-based and real solutions. Our approach, woman-centered care, can help overcome communication barriers and create successful patient-client relationship.

Woman centered means just that, putting the individual woman at the center of care. There are many factors that intersect and influence a woman’s sexual and reproductive health, this includes socioeconomic status, politics, access to care, environment, personal beliefs, values, and experiences, religion, family and relationship dynamics, and mental health. To effectively improve the sexual and reproductive health of women our dialogue, treatment plans, and polices need to reflect the multidimensional world women live in.

Additionally, at Woman Centered Health believe that sexual and reproductive health is not fertility driven; women are not defined by their reproductive or non-reproductive status. Albeit much of sexual and reproductive health care revolves around avoiding pregnancy, trying to become pregnant, and being pregnant, women have health needs that extend before, beyond, and parallel to their “fertile” years. Therefore, care needs to be holistic and considerate of the whole self. Thus, woman centered health is not talking to the woman, but with her.